Is the U.S. dollar backed by gold?

The United States dollar is not backed by gold or any other precious metal.

In the years that followed the establishment of the dollar as the United States official form of currency, the dollar experienced many evolutions. For over a century, the United States dollar was indeed backed by the precious metal, gold, even though dollar coins were often made from silver.

Over the time that the United States dollar was backed by gold, it experienced major fluctuations in value in relation to the world market. Due to these fluctuations in value and the need to protect the United States gold reserves, the Gold Standard was suspended and reinstated several times until it was finally removed in 1963. In that year, the United States resolved the situation by following the example of most other nations and changing their currency system. Instead of backing the dollar with gold or other precious metals held in reserve, their money became a fiat currency, which is not directly backed by any physical commodity.

For five years, until 1968, original treasury bills, issued by the United States government were still eligible for exchange but this program came to an end in a move to finally make abolish the Gold Standard from the United States commerce.